D-29's lecture on the history of the Empire got Luca thinking about his future plans. He would be lying if he said he wasn't alarmed at the new discovery.
And in his 'slight' panic, Luca felt the need to down a few stamina and spiritual power recovery pills.
Yes, he took more than one.
His reasoning was that he had no plans of perishing because he suddenly couldn't replenish his body with enough energy.
This was after getting a cartoonized lecture on Spiritual Power Imbalance.
When D-29 told him about it, his initial reaction was to compare it to a rampage because the end result was similar.
However, according to D-29, the interstellar people likened it to an infection.
You get infected when your natural defenses, a.k.a. Your spiritual powers, are depleted while exposed to this infection.
Technically, this should been preventable if people never reach the depletion point.
But they do.
Although it's possible to prevent it during peaceful times, many soldiers become infected after being depleted in the middle of a battle.
What else would they expect when all they relied on were their innate and un-upgraded spiritual powers?
Luca felt dizzy every time he thought about how the people of this era would eventually run out of their innate energies at the rate at which they used their powers.
Considering the decline in the population's spiritual energy, Luca was horrified to learn that most things were actually operated with spiritual power.
Even the doors in their school were authenticated with one's spiritual energy! No wonder the Duke considered the original Luca's constitution a major problem.
The original owner wouldn't even be able to open doors!
And now that he knew about the dwindling energy, Luca couldn't even bring himself to operate things.
D-29 found it a bit odd because its host clearly had an abundant supply of spiritual energy but was even more concerned than the actual natives.
"That's because they don't know what it's supposed to be like. And most probably have no idea that they're facing a crisis of epic proportions."
As someone who's always lived on the edge of life and death, Luca was practically a doomsayer.
As soon as he discovered the problem, Luca considered earning a bit more money before hiding away. Once the body double comes, Luca will be able to look for a good home.
That should be the safest way.
One person and a system joined hands to prepare for tomorrow's restock, not that there were many things to prepare with how convenient the new inventory system was.
Luca just had to pick apples similar to the original ones they sold because they looked normal enough. In contrast, the ones close to the size of a baby's head should probably be kept hidden.
Unbeknownst to the budding businessman, people from all over the Empire still clamored for more fruits.
This would be especially true for the Empire's Military. They were being covert, not wanting to alarm more people about the existence of hope. Especially when they still haven't found traces of the elusive fruit vendor.
Since the appearance of that online shop, Deputy Officer Curtis's emotions had been on a roller-coaster ride. The remaining apples they bought were distributed to the soldiers as instructed by the Marshal and the Crown Prince.
And they worked miracles.
This was especially true for those who have only depleted spiritual energies but have been lucky enough to escape corruption.
They also decided to give apples to those with the worst cases. The researchers immediately noted how the rapidly increasing spiritual energy, like antibodies fighting a virus, resisted corruption.
But what got Curtis reeling was the vendor's utter silence amidst everything. They hoped to learn more about the fruits of solving the Marshal and the Crown Prince's Spiritual Power Imbalance.
Like those with severe cases, they only managed to hold off on corruption, albeit holding it off well enough that they looked good enough to function.
Provided they minimized the use of their spiritual powers.
But how do they expect the Marshal and the Prince not to use their powers when they were the backbone of the military?!
Curtis felt like he was losing hair from the stress while his superiors remained calm on the exterior.
But that was only on the exterior because when the shop updated the next day. The people marooned at Zenith-12 were on high alert.
They had the mecha pilots with the best hand speeds to watch out for the purchase listing. In fact, not only were they waiting patiently, but they have also been practicing diligently.
The number of competitors kept increasing as more people discovered the small online shop, but the military, being the military, couldn't use underhanded methods to thwart other legitimate customers.
They only prayed that the apples stayed within the Empire. This was another headache for Curtis, who even had to keep tabs on the Federation in case of smuggling.
Other military branches might question the sanity of the Marshal's closest group. Still, these apples carried the hope of the Empire, so what else could Curtis do but monitor the smuggling of apples?
The Marshal and the Crown Prince also stayed to monitor the shop after hearing of the scheduled restock.
"Just try to buy what we can. The number of competitors seems to exceed what we initially expected." The Marshal sighed as he read through the comments and reviews.
They didn't expect the store's products to be live-streamed quickly. Without direct contact with the vendor, they had no choice but to buy like regular clients.
"Did you get Eden to check on the shop?" Asked Prince Aeric.
Curtis's face soured, but he replied affirmatively. Eden was the last person Curtis wanted to deal with, but given no other choices and a stern order from his superiors, he actually went to look for her.
"To what do I owe the honor of being graced by your face today, Lord Curtis?"
"I have orders from the Marshal and the Crown Prince. They want you to look for a Star Mall vendor, but it has to be done without alerting the seller."
"Hmm?" Eden had a wry smile, and Curtis had to take a moment to steady himself.
"Before you try to challenge the order, you should know this is related to the solution to the Spiritual Power Imbalance."
Eden was like a crazed wolf sometimes, but as a military personnel, Eden should know best what this meant.
"Fine. Let me have at it." Her face changed from a challenging look to a look of determination.
When the restock went live, the unsuspecting Star Mall store page lagged.
To the credit of the Star Mall administrators, they tried to prepare for the increased traffic flow but didn't think it would be to this extent.
When the page refreshed, a few people nearly cried in joy, while most thought of ways to scream at the people of Star Mall.
But back at Zenith-12, they had mixed feelings. Considering the competition, the soldiers should have been happy getting 50 pieces, but after knowing the effect, they lamented how they only got 50 for their desperate brothers and sisters.
"I'll look for the seller." Eden witnessed the stocks disappear in just a page refresh, and once she heard of the effects, she started stretching before searching.
And that was how D-29's cat-and-mouse game started.